Tel Aviv luggage dilemma

[Self Loading Freight]

I'm on a 5am flight out of TLV on the 30th, lucky chap. I'll be in Jerusalem on the night of the 28th/29th - which leaves an awkward hole in the itinerary. What to do all day until the 3am check-in? That I can cope with - but I don't want to lug the bags around all day.

Bright ideas welcome...

R

[A2QFI]

Can't you leave the bags wherever it is that you are staying on night of 28/29th?

[Self Loading Freight]

No - it's a private apartment, and the owners are going away for Shabat (I think, we don't exactly have a common language!).

R

[A2QFI]

Well, never having been in your situation, or in Tel Aviv, I think I would try tipping the reception staff in some smart hotel a few shekels to store it for you for the day. This would probably be difficult with their security situation but if you allowed your case to be searched, that might work. Good luck anyway!

[Self Loading Freight]

Thanks for the idea. As you say, they take their baggage seriously around here...

We've solved the problem by taking a day's tour of some of the local archaeology sites which conveniently drops us back at the airport a mere ten hours before the flight (there's nothing much to be done about that bit). What have the Romans ever done for us, eh?

Meanwhile, I've contracted some awful tooth nonsense (root canal gone wrong - the details and implications I wouldn't wish on anyone. Never, ever, use a dentist that someone hasn't recommended), and now I've got to find whether it's safe to fly with a gum boil. Ah, the indignity.

R

[Self Loading Freight]

Survived. For those who might find themselves in a similar situation -

Tel Aviv has free wi-fi throughout. Take a laptop. That's the easy bit. The harder bit is finding a power point. We settled into a closed cafe on the upper floor of terminal 3: there are five or six big uprights along that floor, all of which have two power outlets on them. One upright is next to the cafe, which has comfy seating and tables. Each outlet tends to attract clusters of dispossessed laptop users, so some skill and timing is needed to get a good 'un, but if you manage that - we did, in the end - you can use the notable effect of the Internet to make time vanish to your own advantage. Coffee and snacks are available 24 hours, even on Shabbat, and the no smoking rule is relaxed (the staff put out ashtrays even as the PA warns against it).

And thence onto Czech Airlines and plenty of sleep.

R